As used herein, poultry includes chickens, ducks, geese, guinea fowl, turkeys, parrots, and other birds. Several illnesses cause the crop of poultry, in particular, chickens, ducks, geese, guinea fowl, turkeys, and parrots, to become weakened, distended, slow or sour. When one of these symptoms occurs, it is necessary to support the bird's crop. Without crop support, the bird is unable to process food properly and can perish. A common location of pecking of hens by other hens is on their chests. Once blood is drawn, the pecking can escalate, resulting in infection and even death. For example, parrots often self-mutilate, plucking out all feathers from their chest area until the feathers can no longer regrow.
Prior art poultry protection devices do not protect the chest area of the bird or provide support for a weakened crop. See, e.g., U.S. Patent Publication No. 2010/0043726A1 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,651,595, 5,218,928, and 3,101,696. In particular, they do not cover the upper portion of the chest, which is the area most likely to be pecked and/or over-plucked. Prior art devices are not flexible nor do they provide a custom, comfortable, and adjustable fit when secured to the bird, regardless of the width and weight of the bird.
Thus, a need exists to overcome the problems with the prior art devices as discussed above.